Holiday home swap could help you avoid post-Brexit pound slump

Amanda Visagie her husband William Dickson with their two children Jack and Tom

21 July 2016 • 9:52am

Holidaymakers can escape the impact of the falling pound by avoiding paying cash for accommodation altogether.

Instead, they swap their home for a property in their chosen destination in a "currency-less" transaction.

The pound has fallen from $1.50 before the referendum to nearer $1.30 today.

Against the euro, the pound has fallen from €1.31 to €1.20.

With accommodation being one of the biggest costs of a holiday, this slump is a blow.

An answer - for those comfortable with the concept - is to forget about renting a flat or villa, and simply swap your own home for another in your holiday destination.

Websites such as HomeLink and LoveHomeSwap act as holiday matchmaking sites.

The premise is simple: set up a profile advertising your home and the website will connect you with like-minded people, in exchange for a fee.

The costs vary depending on the sites. LoveHomeSwap charges £228 per year, broken down into monthly instalments of £12. HomeLink members pay £115 per year.

Members can either arrange simultaneous swaps – where both households will stay in each others' homes at the same time – or where they agree to vacate their property, perhaps staying elsewhere.

Do it for yourself

Amanda Visagie, 44, and her family have been house swapping for over four years.

Mrs Visagie, who works as a business coach, along with her husband William Dickson, 43, and sons Jack, 9 and Tom, 6, have been on holiday to over half a dozen worldwide locations including, California, Belgium and South Africa.

Their most recent trip was to San Francisco for a fortnight over the Easter holidays.

Staying for fourteen nights in equivalent accommodation via AirBnb over the Easter holiday would have cost approximately £5,572.

While a room in the four-star W Hotel in San Francisco is priced at £4,127.

A view of the Golden Gate Bridge, in San Francisco, CaliforniaCredit:
Getty Images/Justin Sullivan

Instead, they only needed to pay the cost of their subscription to LoveHomeSwap.

Of course, holidaymakers still need to pay for travel to their destination, including transport to and from the airport.

So it would be important to factor these costs into a trip before deciding to sign up to a home swap.

The family, who live in a four bedroom house with a sizable garden in Forest Hill in south-east London, first started swapping when the children were quite young.

Mrs Visagie said: “We had two small children and didn’t want to stay in a hotel or resort. We wanted to have an experience that felt more local.

“The nice thing about home swapping is that you’re going to places you might have not considered before.

“It has saved us a lot of money. It allows us to do extra things on trips – like driving down to Palm Springs and staying there for a few nights.”

Make sure you’re covered

The process relies heavily on trust between swappers.

Some firms offer “protection” – a type of insurance to cover you for any breakables or costs – but it’s important to check with your home insurer before going ahead with a swap.

“If you’re doing a house swap, tell your home insurer. If you have separate insurers for buildings and contents, tell them both,” Kevin Pratt, insurance expert at MoneySuperMarket.com, said.

The Visagie/Dickson family are happy to swap their home with strangers, in return for a holiday

“Some insurers will simply say carry on with your plans, but others will either adjust the premium or increase the excess – the amount you pay towards any claim - for the period of the let.

“Don’t be tempted to do the swap without letting your insurer know, as any claim you make might not be paid, or not paid in full.

He added that it’s also worth speaking to the people who own the property that you’re swapping with to make sure they are covered too.

It’s also increasingly common for a car to be included in a home swap. If so, swappers must tell their insurer and add the relevant people to the policy as named drivers – and vice versa.

How easy is it to swap your home?

Members usually exchange 10 to 20 messages before they confirm a swap - so it can take a few weeks to arrange your holiday.

Some will even chat over Skype so you can see what the property looks like over video.

Swappers need to be flexible on dates. London is the most desired location for home swaps, according to LoveHomeSwap. It's closely followed by Nice, New York and Paris.

Oxford in southern England is another favourite - boasting a prestigious university, architecture and proximity to the capital.

The destinations of Laguna Beach in California, Normandy in France and New Orleans in the USA have seen the biggest uplift in interest from swappers.

If you've got a home in one of these locations then you may find that there is more demand for swaps - and you could even exchange your property for one of a higher specification.

Have you found a way to weather the currency storm? Tell us your story: tara.evans@telegraph.co.uk